Chain Effect
by skakujou
Summary: Co-Written by Darkworld and skakujou: On an errand, Team 7 is supposedly sending scrolls over to the run-down Village of the Rain. However, something seems to say that it's more than just gift giving on this particular mission...
1. Prologue

Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is an AR.

  --

            "Remind me again sensei...just exactly WHY are we here?!" 

            Naruto's voice pierced the tense silence. He folded his arms behind his head as he walked along with the rest of Team 7: Sasuke, Sakura, and Master Kakashi. Typical. But...what was NOT so typical was where exactly they were walking through. 

            Welcome the Village of the Rain, a poor, defeated city where the only income that keeps it afloat is silk. Yes, its fine, fine silk. However, the process took so long and they created so little, it wasn't enough to help them off the ground. The weather was chilly and bitter, and the land seemed constantly to be enveloped in fine mist. You would have to wonder how they cultivated silk worms in this sort of climate; it should have been too cold for that certain profession.

            They were apparently in a hostile area as well, and the students for the most part were on edge. The Village of the Mist was only a few miles away from this unguarded city, and it sent chills up their spine just thinking about their last encounter with two of their shinobi. Or at least, one shinobi and their most infamous missing-nin, Zabuza. 

            Kakashi gave a disapproving click of his tongue.

            "For the tenth time Naruto, we're here to run an errand for Lord Hokage. The scrolls you carry," he motioned towards the large bundles they were all carrying on their backs, "are for the Village Elder of this town, which we are to deliver to his home." 

            Naruto snorted impatiently. "Huh...could've had some of his lackeys do it for him...the old geezer. If he's the great shinobi that everyone says he is, why can't the old man do it himself?" This comment received a set of rather nasty glares from his other two teammates, capable of rivaling those of the passerby's of the village. They didn't seem to take kindly to outsiders. Just as how Sakura and Sasuke didn't take kindly to Naruto's slander of the revered Lord Hokage. But being Naruto, he was oblivious to this (or just didn't care). 

            Sakura inspected the shabby and very unwelcoming homes and abodes of the village. 

            "What a dump...how did these people even earn a living?"

            "Most work with silk worms, by selling the silk they produce. How they manage to raise the buggers in this area is a mystery. But some say even though the village is so poor, it's the finest silk in the world," Kakashi said coolly as he carelessly flipped through his dirty book, seeming unconcerned with the glares he and his students were receiving. Sakura hesitantly offered her opinion.

            "Well…I don't think that's helping them out so much…" She shuddered as a meaty vendor leered at her with beady eyes. Unconsciously she stuck closer to Sasuke.

            "Huh...and the worthless ones that are too incompetent to get a job?" Sasuke asked coldly, trying to discretely inch away from the pink haired girl. 

            Kakashi shrugged, "Stealing, robbing, doing odd jobs. What else would they do?" He carefully slid his piece of literature into his pouch and patted it fondly. Coins could be heard jingling inside. Ignoring the suddenly perked ears of the villagers, he gave one last warning.             

            "Best keep a sharp eye out then. But the Elder's home isn't too far away now. We shouldn't have to worry about it."

            The Village Elder's home, unlike the unsanitary wastelands these people called home was a splendid mansion that stuck out like a sore thumb among the dirty abodes of the villagers. But the villagers...despite their devious and wicked nature, did not dare to even set foot in the mansion. They mirrored the shinobi who looked up to Lord Hokage in Konoha. The Village Elder was treated with the utmost respect and was nearly worshiped like a god. Therefore, robbery on the house of the Elder would never be a problem. In fact, the mansion didn't even have security. No guards even. How strange...seeing how the splendid abode housed a dark and terrible secret.  

            Although he always seemed to be uninterested and distant, Sasuke's sharp eyes took in everything, and maybe more than just that. His battle trained vision picked up potentially useful information. Nearly every villager they passed had something lethal close to hand. The fleeting shimmer of the suns rays on a needle in a woman's hair. Or the odd, but subtle droop in one's pant leg. The case it was for many of the passerby's Sasuke would note with a bitter smile. This village appeared to be very dangerous. Of course, as you may have already guessed. 

            Caught up with his examination Sasuke forgot to watch exactly where he was going. So inevitably he ran into someone. 

            "Omph!" a small grunt of a distress and their heads knocking together brought Sasuke back to a line of straight vision. In front of him stood a woman about his height dressed in an odd assortment of clothing, rubbing her forehead. His eyes narrowed. Something made her attire different from the villagers own, and it wasn't because her clothes were more than weather worn. 

            Remembering what he had seen of the villagers, Sasuke's hand automatically snapped down to his thigh, where his shuriken holster hung. Instead of the expected hostility towards Sasuke that his comrades expected, they received quite the opposite.

            "My apologies sir," the woman said in a hurried fashion bobbing her head quickly in a bow, her ponytail of black hair whipping about. She raised from her bow more slowly, fixing the head band wrapped around her head. 

            "Please forgive me." 

            Sasuke blinked, but remained decidedly silent. He was slightly surprised at the politeness from a common village girl. 

            But there was still something off about this person…

            "Waugh!" 

            Sasuke turned in time to see Naruto fall heavily to the ground, running into another person like he had; only that he had been more on guard.        

            "And forgive me sir," A young man no older than he was helping Naruto off the ground. He was talking with the same strange civility that the girl had used.

            Naruto seemed as surprised as Sasuke, but didn't bother masking it, "Er...it's ok?" The man smiled and nodded, his strange silver eyes glinting. 

            The girl pulled out a watch, and blinked.

            "Well, I must be off." She smiled, and she walked passed the four of them, the man following after her as company. 

             "Wait...." Sasuke said quietly as his hand ascended from his shuriken holster to his pocket.

            That clinched it. How could someone who lived in such a poverty-strewn area have access to a luxury such as a working watch? And they had both left together as well. He finally realized what was so different about the girl: she had the headband of a shinobi! His hand felt emptiness inside his pocket. 

            Now how about that: a thief and a ninja all in one. Soon available in stores near you.

            "My money! GET BACK HERE THIEF!" Sasuke roared as he spun on heel to face the two robbers who had just walked past them. He quickly rid himself of the cargo on his back, dropping the scrolls to the dirt. The man's head snapped back to look at Sasuke. 

            "Hmm...This one's surprisingly attentive," the silver eyed man said calmly to his female comrade.

            "Don't talk, damn you, run!" the girl snapped, the former politeness gone in an instant. She took off, shoving Sasuke's money in her pocket. Sasuke and Naruto (who realized the man had robbed him) took after them. 

            "I'll kill you!" Naruto screeched as he dove at the retreating man. Unfortunately for him, he had forgotten that he was carrying heavy items and was considerably slow. Failing to grab onto the long queue the man wore his hair in as he leapt for the rooftops, Naruto was left with a face full of dust. 

            Naruto snarled in annoyance as he batted away at the cloud of dust. "Damn it: they're shinobi?!"

            "Kakashi-sensei...shouldn't we be helping them?" Sakura asked with annoyance at his failure to do anything to stop the two thieves. 

            Kakashi simply laughed, his one visible eye curving upwards in mirth.

            "Why should I Sakura? The best teacher in life is life itself. Care to join me and watch?" 

            Sakura gave a sigh of frustration, pulling at the thick straps of her scrolls. "Why not...." 

            "Haha...this one's fast! He'll be a worthy opponent for ya, eh?" the silver eyed man said airily as he got within hearing range of his female comrade. 

            She smirked as she changed a look over her shoulder at the rapidly approaching shinobi, "A worthy opponent my ass, I'll have this guy out cold in less than five minutes," how very wrong she was. To pick a fight with a Uchiha wasn't a smart thing to do. 

            "Eh? So cocky! What makes you think that jonin of theirs won't intervene?" the unnamed one asked, giving her a look from the corner of his eye. 

            "Idiot, if he wanted to interfere, I highly doubt we'd be here right now, eh?" something bright whipped past, barely missing her ear. Looking over her shoulder she cursed. 

            "Damn it! This one's fast!" The girl was right; Sasuke had already caught up with them enough to safely throw shuriken. And he was still gaining with nearly impossible steadiness. The man nodded his approval. 

            "Heh...then perhaps you'll get some actual action today. I'll take care of the clumsy oaf he has for a partner. I had enough fun last week with that rich man's body guard. I'll catch up with you once you're through with this unwelcome shinobi, like a rabbit to its hole. He then dropped into a gap between houses disappearing from Sasuke's line of view. 

            Sasuke spat, "Huh, I've no business with the boy. I don't care if it's a trap for Naruto. The girl's got my money." He pulled out another shuriken as she armed herself.

            She frowned as she readied two kunai, one for each hand. "Damn, I didn't think I'd have to go into the forest to finish this," up ahead of them, the line of rooftops suddenly ended, giving way to the dense forest. Preparing herself for a battle, she slashed her way through the trees, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Sasuke dived into the sea of leaves after her. 

            Meanwhile Naruto, who was fast…but not as fast as Sasuke was still leaping from roof to roof. The speed that he was achieving was tremendous, even though the scrolls were still weighing him down and he was…well, he was Naruto. 

            Following what he had seen before the two shapes he had barely made out as Sasuke and the woman thief before they had vanished into the wood. 

            "Damn it! How am I ever going to find that stupid thief in the woods?!" Naruto snarled angrily. _"And I was saving it to buy Ramen, too!"_ As he leapt she spotted the rather large gap that was between two houses. 

            "You've no need to worry about that boy!" In an instant the thief was in the air, meeting Naruto's flight with a knee to the gut. Naruto flew backwards, skidding across the roof top. The boy watched with slight amusement at Naruto's expression from the sharp pain. 

            "I've got your money right here." 

            "Oi!" She called over her shoulder into the rustling leaves that gave away Sasuke's position completely.

            "Your skills aren't doing you so good." 

            "Really? Then why can I do this?" Eyes stared as she caught sight of him. There stood Sasuke on a branch, directly in her way. A solid smack could be heard as she received a hit in the face. Courtesy of Sasuke's foot. 

            "You're fast…" The shinobi said almost approvingly as she landed on a branch across from Sasuke's. The tension could nearly be seen taking solid form between the two. 

            "What's your name, boy?" She asked coolly as she idly tossed her kunai blades up and down, catching them with ease. 

            "..." 

            Silence. 

            She snorted, "Come now boy, I can't be calling an opponent that can I? It's not respectful!" She shook her head. "Not respectful at all. And besides, what're you afraid of?" Brown eyes glinted dangerously. "That I'll come hunting you? How can I if you're so sure I'm going to loose this fight?" 

            He grimaced. 

            "Uchiha Sasuke."

            Her lips quirked upwards in a smile, and was still fingering her kunai.  

            "Nice name, Uchiha. I think I've heard of you before…" she reached into her pocket, still speaking. 

            "The name's Yasui Amaya."

            He stood, unmoving. His eyes followed her casual movements, taking in how his kick had affected her. Her personality swayed, completely different from her cocky attitude before. But it wasn't like Sakura's mood swings at all…

            _"Or maybe no one's tried to put her in the loony bin yet."_

            The girl pulled out a small pouch of money. His money. Sasuke gritted his teeth, beginning to plan how to get it back, as well as take some revenge on her.

            "You want it back, don't you?" She dangled the small pouch of Sasuke's money by a finger, still smiling as she had when it was stolen. To her delight, Sasuke nodded.    "Well, you seem to be so attached to it. I kind of have some remorse for you." With one swing, she caught it in her hand. She sighed, shaking her head. 

            "Ah well, can't have it both ways." The girl swept it away to a hidden pocket. 

            "You can have it—"

            She sprang at him, the smirk back on her face. 

            "If you can get it from me!" 


	2. Chapter 1

Darkworld's Note:

I really don't see exactly the point of leaving a NOTE here. Seeing how no one is really reading this carefully made, love-in-every-stitch story. Oh, except for Skye Dragon. *Bows* thank you ever so much for leaving a review as proof. And anyone else who reads this fic, please leave a review as well. Ok, just to clarify: The first two chapters were done by me. My partner in crime, murder, scandal, robbery, and writing this story wasn't able to write this one, so I had to. But Skakujou will have the pleasure of writing the next chapter. Ok, that's all I wanted to say, and oh, and please Read and Review. If you're a writer, you know the irritation of not having any. So take pity on your fellow man. Please? 

                        --

            "Heh...you should really be more careful," the thief snickered, a satisfied grin planted on his face at his scoring a rather nice hit on his opponent. And his excellent use of strategy. His silver eyes flashed brightly in the sun as they danced about, observing every inch of Naruto. 

            Unconsciously leaping the gap, the man approached Naruto. Who, upon noticing his opponent approaching scrambled to his feet. Naruto's hand instantly going for a shuriken. Thanks to years of training, the motion was second nature to the fox demon. 

            "I'm Arai Kisho, what's your name?" Naruto blinked in surprise, Kisho's hands held neither weapon nor item. Instead one was extended towards Naruto in friendly gesture. He seemed oblivious to Naruto's shuriken which were grasped firmly in hand. 

            "Come on now...we don't have all day, do we? Unless of course..." Kisho started to draw his hand back, "You don't want your money back. I can put it to good use you know..." Inwardly, Kisho smirked as he found Naruto's hand firmly grasping his own.

            "Give me my money back," Naruto growled, "Drop it now and I'll let you leave," this brought forth a chuckle from Kisho. 

            "Let me leave? LET me leave?" The friendly smile vanished from Kisho's face, in its stead a sharp frown was plastered. "My dear boy...my dear, dear, boy. I'm afraid that is FAR out of your range. A lower class shinobi like you should hardly have the right to speak to me. You worthless trash," Kisho taunted, his words really held no truth. And he knew it; his taunts were merely a means of aggravating his opponent into attacking. A strategy that would work disgustingly well against the hot headed Naruto. 

            "What....did you call me?" Naruto growled his grip tightening on Kisho's arm. Naruto's lips curled into an infuriated sneer. 

            Kisho sneered back, "Huh...you're too stupid to understand? Okay then, let's try this." He took a breath. 

            "You-are-a-worthless-piece-of-trash..." Kisho grated the words out as if talking to a child, succeeding in objective number one: infuriating the opponent (or in this case, even further). Naruto attacked. With a snarl of anger, Naruto's hand shot out, his kunai blade speeding towards Kisho's neck. 

            "Tsk, tsk: such a temper!" ducking the blade, Kisho lashed out with his foot, his effort rewarded with a grunt as Naruto was effectively brought to the ground by the successful leg sweep. Before his foe could recover Kisho pinned Naruto down with his knee digging into his back. And with one free hand, he held both Naruto's hands. 

            "Hm...lesse here. If my hunch is correct..." with his free hand, he plucked Naruto's headband off, causing Naruto to thrash about even more under his knee in irritation. 

            "First my money, and now my headband!" 

            "Tsk, don't be such a fool, I'm a shinobi of the Rain, and I've no need for a..." Kisho checked the front of the headband. "Headband from Konohagakure Village, Uzumaki Naruto." 

            Naruto continued thrashing, frustrated, "How do you know my name!?" 

                        --

            "Ungh!" Amaya grunted in annoyance more than pain as she was sent into a tree, courtesy of another powerful kick to her face. '_Damn it!' _She growled inwardly, '_what is it with this kid and kicking my face?! Not to mention that I should outrank him by two years…' _Getting to her feet in time to face another onslaught brought by Sasuke, Amaya felt a smile creep about her lips. '_Hn__…__I think finishing this quickly is a possibility here…'   _

            "Give me my money back." Sasuke said coolly. He slashed at his foe with his kunai only to have his arm caught as Amaya's hand caught him by the wrist in a strong grip. 

            Sasuke winced at his mistake._ 'I'll give her this much. She's got fast reactions.'_

            The girl grinned in an almost insane way as she sent Sasuke spinning to the ground with a sharp twist of her wrist. 

            "I don't feel like it right now. Try some other time." with a shake of her left arm, a kaiken* slipped out of her sleeve to land neatly into her hand. 

Sasuke's keen eyes narrowed as they noticed a slight discoloration on the tip of the blade. 

            "Poison?"  

            Hidden from view thanks to Kakashi's strategic location, he and Sakura observed the heated battle with great interest. 

            Kakashi's lazy one-eyed glance never wavered from where it was examining the situation. "Huh, poison. Not a bad move considering the girl wants our Sasuke out of the way for good." the jounin smiled at Sakura's panicked retort. '_Typical.'_

            "Poison!?" Sakura hissed, incredulous and angry at the same time. "How can she use that?! She's only 15 at the least!" 

            "Hmm...Are you sure?" Kakashi squinted quizzically down at the thief, "I think she looks more like...14 years old. Wouldn't you say?" 

            Sakura sighed in annoyance, "Sensei.....that's not what I was talking about." 

            "Really?" 

            "..." 

            "Oh! The poison, right, right," Kakashi chuckled. "Well, you must remember, Sakura, we're no longer in familiar territory where everything may be prosperous and safe. In the Village of the Rain, it's about winning in the long run." 

            "And what's that supposed to mean?" 

            "Think of it as a game, a beaten opponent can always re-heal, rebuild, and become better through practice, training, and so on." 

            Sakura winced as she saw Sasuke take a critical slice to the arm. But luckily, it was with the kunai blade that the girl held in her other hand. Sasuke had managed to get to his feet and avoid the kaiken. 

            "And your point, sensei?"

            Kakashi smiled grimly, "A dead one can't."  

                        --

            "It's been ten minutes...I think you can stop laughing now," Naruto grumbled, not very happy that he was pinned down and being the center of laughter at the same time. 

            Wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, Kisho stifled his laughter as best he could.    "You're such an idiot. How do I know your name? It's written right inside of the headband that I have here. And in nearly illegible handwriting, might I add! I won't be surprised if you blow yourself up when you try to use some ninjutsu!"  

            He was an odd one, Naruto mentally noted. His mocking seemed to be light hearted and merely in the spirit of good fun. Which was better suited for friends at a tavern rather than on a rooftop in a dangerous fight. He twitched. 

            '_This guy's nuts!'_

He froze as the shinobi pinning him down suddenly moved towards his head. He started struggling until he felt something familiar touch his forehead once more.

            "Here," Kisho carefully slipped the headband back on. Adjusting it until he was certain it was exactly as Naruto had left it. 

            "There we go. Nice and neat!" 

            "Huh? Wait, wha?" Naruto rambled in confusion as he felt the man's weight lift off him. Why in the deepest circle of Hell itself would he get up? He could've gotten rid of him right then and there. 

            Kisho gave the blond a puzzled look to match Naruto's, "What're you gawking at?" 

            "Why the hell didn't you kill me?" 

            "Huh? Oh~ _that_, ha, ha," the thief chuckled as he began to untie the yari* that was strapped to his back. The long tassel that dangled by the butt of the formidable weapon held onto him by a knot. 

            "Why should I? I think that if you are indeed going to die, Uzumaki, I think I should give you the chance to do it in an honorable way," Kisho gave a click of his tongue, fiddling with the weapon. 

            "Grr...damn knot, untie already." 

            "You really shouldn't be talking about honor, thief," Naruto snapped as he began to ready weapons of his own. He pulled out a new tool, keeping a wary eye on the man. Athough showing a brave face, inside he was trying to figure out this situation and whether the people in this village were sane. 

            '_How come I didn't see that huge thing when he bumped into me?'_

            Just in time, the man had finally managed to undo his troublesome knot. 

            "Heh," he smirked in amusement at Naruto's sharp and rather rude remark. After all, he had allowed Naruto his life. 

            "Fair enough," grasping the yari firmly with both hands, Kisho gave his opponent a small smile as Naruto charged recklessly forward, a new shinobi-to* in hand. By the looks of how clean it was and how he handled it, anyone could tell that it hadn't been favored, unlike his kunai and shuriken. But at least Naruto had enough common sense to know that a kunai would be quite useless against weapon that commanded such reach. 

            With a dull thud, blade met wood (fire hardened wood, mind you) as the charge was blocked. With a yell, Naruto began attacking furiously, aiming for all openings that he could find.

            "You're strong for one so young!" Kisho commented. He was having a bit of trouble with keeping up with his foe's attacks, for each block the sheer force of it was enough to knock the yari off course. It was meant to be a compliment in a strange sense. But Naruto took it as something more of a derogatory remark. 

            "I'll show you strength!" Now thoroughly infuriated his battering became a frenzied onslaught. Every blow became twice as powerful, twice as fast. But fatally, it turned out twice as clumsy. Although Kisho did not boast formidable strength, his reaction time and speed were forces to be reckoned with, and it didn't take a considerable amount of force to drive the razor sharp spear head through tender flesh. 

                        --

            "Maa, maa…don't move so much, Sasuke-chan! A fly like you needs to be swatted." Amaya chided as she stabbed and hacked at Sasuke with her poisoned kaiken. Again, her personality switched due to the new situation.

            The pro: Sasuke had to be careful dodging the poison, since he obviously didn't want to be skewered and secondly, didn't know what poison it was or the antidote to it. So all he could do was defend himself, leaving her an advantage. 

            The con: The kaiken had little or no reach whatsoever, forcing Amaya into close combat. And it wasn't easy to land a hit on one with an Uchiha's speed, so it was a good thing she was fast as well. 

            "And let myself be caught by a spider such as you?" Sasuke shot back. He found an opening and sliced through her side, rewarded by feeling of her warm blood oozing onto his hand. 

            '_Funny; I thought it'd be cold.' _

            Stifling a yelp of pain, she turned her attention towards returning the favor. "Yeah? Well, too bad: when you dove for my opening, you left _yourself_ open." Sasuke cursed, realizing that she had caught his arm. 

            "Since you're so eager to come across death, pretty boy, I'll help you find it!" Amaya's free hand snapped down, nearly crushing Sasuke's throat in its iron grip. He choked, never letting go of the kunai he had jabbed into her. The rough bandages wrapped around her hand scratched his neck, increasing pain.

            Slamming Sasuke to the ground, Amaya held the kaiken dangerously close to his neck. On top of that, she ended up sitting on him, pinning his limbs to the dirt. Sasuke knitted his eyebrows, trying to move the kunai in her side. But he couldn't break the hold. 

            She sighed tiredly.

            "Should've just let your money go." 

            "SAKURA, NO!" the girl blinked at the sound of Kakashi's yell. 

            "Who the hell is Sa-aagh!" Amaya, who had turned in the direction of the yell to see who indeed Sakura was. And she found out the fast way. 

            Sakura, in an attempt to aid Sasuke, had broken cover and had launched herself at the Rain shinobi, and was inches away from breaking Amaya's nose with her fist. However, Amaya recovered first. 

            Using Sakura's own momentum against her the shinobi let her head fall backwards, watching the fist hit the air right where her head had been a moment before. Finding the ground with her hands she twisted out of the girl's grip and slammed her feet into Sakura's gut. With a cry, the pink haired ninja was sent across the clearing, landing on her side.  

            "Psht," Amaya spat blood as she caught site of a silver haired man, most likely the trio's jounin, leap off his perch on a tree above and examine the girl. The girl would live. 

            She winced. Now only if she could say the same for herself. Sasuke had been holding onto the kunai that he'd stuck into her, thankfully missing anything important, but by being forced away the blade had been ripped through her side and blood was now seeping out at an alarming rate.

            Amaya turned back to Sasuke, who had stored the bloody kunai away in his shuriken holder, and had a smirk planted on his face. She frowned. He'd taken advantage of the girl's surprise attack, and now something was wrong. Her sharp eyes immediately fond the problem: his hands were formed in the sign of the Tiger!  He had completed some form of jutsu! 

            "Shit!" She recoiled and leapt away, aiming for a tree branch. The kaiken was slid back into its hiding spot, no longer useful.

            "Can't I ever catch a break?" 

                        --

            "Is your will to sustain unspent!?" Kisho asked, clearly impressed that one so young could carry out such a fast and powerful onslaught for so long. But he knew the physical limits of his foe. He could feel it in Naruto's blow, with each one he blocked. He could feel it. Naruto was starting to weaken. 

            "Is that spear of yours unbreakable?!" Naruto shot back, annoyed that neither the yari nor Kisho himself showed any sign of wear. The sharp shinobi-to did little to nothing in crippling him, weather it be severing his leg or severing his spear. The Rain shinobi, however, had other plans. 

            "I don't know about unbreakable, Uzumaki Naruto…" Kisho had been waiting for the opportune moment and it came with Naruto's blow. Blocking it as he usually had with mid-spear section, Kisho did something that was not so usual. He was holding the spear by the far ends, and in a quick twisting motion, he brought the spear from the closer edge of the blade to the farther edge.

            "But…I highly doubt you'll be around long enough to find OUT!" jerking his yari back to himself, Kisho also brought the shinobi-to flying out of Naruto's hand effectively disarming him. 

            "Well now..." Kisho gave him his small, friendly smile. "I do believe that it's my turn." 

            Naruto gulped nervously. This was bad. He was up against a 14 year old shinobi with a yari. He had nothing except kunai and shuriken, and neither would be very effective against Kisho if he knew how to use his yari correctly. And by the show performed shortly before, he had a hunch that he did. But through his nervousness an ounce of courage remained. For Naruto had his ace in the hole.

            "Well then?" Naruto smirked, "Hit me." 

            Kisho, at these words became seemingly one with his yari. The spear danced in his hands as it preformed fancy twirls and spins. Each one melding with the other until seemingly it became one fluid motion. Kisho did the same. It was an impressive sight to be sure. But in theory, it was nothing to be afraid of. 

            "Ha!" Naruto mocked as he watched Kisho's "dance". Backing away from Kisho with every step Kisho took himself. His attack, which would be extremely painful if one would fall into his attack radius was still nothing to fear. For all Naruto had to do was keep a safe distance from Kisho, because in his "dance" he could barely walk. 

            "What're you? A shinobi or a circus act? Those moves won't get you anywhere except on the side of the road as a street attraction!" 

            Kisho was not discouraged by these words. "Remember Naruto! The way of a shinobi is not just killing. It is not just brute force and action! It is also a mind game. To confuse and befuddle your opponent is key to victory." 

            "Haha! Well, your attack, if I could call it that," Naruto teased in his child like manner. "Is confusing, that's for sure. But confusing me won't really earn you a kill now will it? You'll have to attack me if you want to win. And as long as I stay away from you, you can't hit me." 

            Kisho smirked, but it was behind lost in his blurry form. "You should not laugh at me, Uzumaki Naruto. You must respect a shinobi," Kisho let go of his yari. The force of his spinning enough to send it hurtling at an ferocious speed towards Naruto, who was taken completely by surprise. With his slow reaction time and the yari's impossible speed Naruto took the spear through the neck, instantly killing him. 

            "Or in turn...Uzumaki Naruto," Kisho gave the already dead Naruto a warm smile as he pulled the blood smeared yari out of the demon fox's neck. 

            "The shinobi will not respect you." 

            "Boo," Kisho was suddenly grabbed by the arms. A Naruto for each. Another Naruto bound Kisho's legs. And another relieved him of his yari. 

            "W-what? What is this?" Kisho gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief as they observed an awesome sight. At least more than fifty Naruto clones crowded the roof. Each made of flesh and blood as real as himself. 

            "Kudos to you, Arai Kisho," One Naruto broke from the swarm of orange jumpsuits to stand before Kisho alone. 

            "You were successful in killing one of my clones. But now...as you would say," the words rang clear as they were spoken in union by Naruto and his clones: 

            "I do believe that it's my turn." 

****

            Meanwhile, deep in the heart of the woods, Sasuke and Amaya were scampering about from tree to tree in a wild game of cat and mouse. Sasuke with his fireball technique, which was of course, anything but lethal, was, as you all can well imagine, the cat. So guess who's the mouse? Right, Amaya. Who wasn't too happy in her current position of furry rodent. Surprisingly, something even more to her disliking was the destruction of the trees. 

            Wood + Fire= Fun! Er…I mean burning. 

            "I can't take this," she muttered. And suddenly, she stopped, completely aware of Sasuke and his fire. She turned to face him with a blank face, ignoring the swaying of the thin branch she had halted on. 

            "Agh!" Giving a cry of dismay/surprise, Sasuke broke off his seal. A direct hit with the Fireball jutsu might just burn his money along with Amaya. But the part where she burned as well was just fine with him, of course. 

            Her hands clenching into fists, Amaya felt as if every single part of her would erupt in her total fury. 

            "YOU IDIOT!" She seethed, fixing him with a dark glare. 

            "LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" 

            With one hand she pointed an accusing finger at the last of the Uchiha clan, and what used to be past him, which was now blazing with the trail of fiery destruction he had left. 

            "Those trees....this land....it's all breeding grounds for silkworms," She growled.  

            "It's the meager income that this Village makes....and you dare to destroy it? You dare forsake our land and the people who dwell inside it?" 

            Before Sasuke could even think to act, her hands had performed a seal. 

            Amaya's explosive anger was gone, instead in its place was a quiet rage that stirred beneath her skin. Through bone and flesh, it boiled in her very soul. Like a sleeping dragon, this was true anger. Suddenly, without warning, rain began to fall. No...not fall. Rain began to pour, so heavy and so quick. The thick mist rising began to cloud Sasuke's vision like fog. But he did not feel nor care for the rain, for Amaya with her deadly glare against the suddenly darkening sky and insane rain, made a terrible sight. 

            "Do you know of the legend of this Village?" Amaya began darkly. 

            "Does your memory hold the tale of the Village of the Rain?" 

            Sasuke spat as water began to seep into his mouth. 

            "What need do I have for a story?" 

            But Amaya ignored his remark. "They say a great and powerful spirit watches over this village. The very essence of all oceans, rivers, and lakes: the Great Water Spirit. They say he takes the form a great dragon made by the very water itself, pouring down from the heavens, made by the rain. The very same rain we stand in, Sasuke. However..." A soft droning noise began, as if from far above them. He thought nothing more of it than thunder. 

            "The Spirit, the Essence of Water only comes down when it is angry, when it must punish someone responsible for harming the Village. The Village of Rain is its child, as is all things that belong to the Village," Amaya's eyes shifted upward to look up into the gray sky that drenched her and Sasuke in their tears. The droning noise began to escalate in volume. Growing louder by the second until it was an unmistakable roar. 

            "You've upset the Water Spirit, Sasuke. I think it's time that you meet him." 

            Sasuke was catching on. That roar was no thunder. Something bad was coming and if he didn't move that something would hit him. So with his good common sense, he sprang off his perch to the left. 

            There was something intriguing about the story, and the clamor above led Sasuke's eyes upwards.             "What the hell…?"

                        --

            Now, as you may already have guessed, or as you may have already known, Naruto was having much better luck with his fight than Sasuke. His opponent was being held down by his counterparts and he was able to pummel away to his hearts content. 

            "Not so tough now are ya?" Naruto said with a satisfied smirk as he watched Kisho nearly cough up blood. Surprisingly, through nearly half an hour of a heavy beating, Kisho was able to smile.

            "Congratulations," he managed to choke out weakly. Though his false politeness and cheeriness remained, a slight tinge of sarcasm escaped his lips. 

            "You've succeeded in beating a man who is as helpless as one with no arms, nor legs. Truly you are a fine shinobi!" 

            A spasm of anger flashed across Naruto's face as he reared back to punch. "I'll wipe that smug smirk off your face yo-" suddenly, an earsplitting roar pierced the still air. The ground rumbled beneath the two adversaries as the sheer volume of the cry could shake the Earth itself. 

            "What the hell was that!?" Naruto yelled, shock beginning to take over his anger. 

            Blood splattered everywhere as Kisho began to laugh. His weariness seemed to vanish and new found strength took its place. The Leaf shinobi whirled around to face him, puzzled. Picking his head up, he leered at Naruto with an eerie smile. His blood splattered features did nothing to lessen the disturbance the blond felt.

            "It means your friend is dead." 

            Naruto's eyes widened, and he started backing away.

            Kisho gave an inward sigh of relief as the Naruto clones suddenly vanished and he was allowed to hit the ground and accept unconsciousness. His last sight was of Naruto vanishing into the woods at full sprint. 

            "SASUKE!!!!!!" 

                        --

_Weapons_

**kaiken - This favorite weapon of the Kunoichi (female ninja) was a small skinny dirk. The kaiken could easily be concealed in ones garment or sleeve.**

**shinobi**-******to - The sword carried by the shinobi was the shinobi-to or sometimes called the shinobibigatana. Like most ninja weapons the shinobi-to had a multitude of uses. The shinobi-to was shorter than the Samuri's katana, it could be worn across the back to enable the ninja to climb without sword interference. The cord (sageo) was attached to the scabbard (saya) about 12 feet in length. The handguard (tsuba) unlike the katana, was square and larger. The shinobi-to could be laid against a wall to be used as a step to climb, the sword could then be pulled up by the sageo.**

The ninja would carry metsubishi (blinding powder) at the bottom of the scabbard to throw into the enemies eyes while drawing his sword. The scabbard could also be used as a blowgun or snorkel. The scabbard often served as a secondary weapon in time of need.

**yari**** - One of the major weapons used in battle was a yari (spear). It was mainly used for poking, thrusting and stabbing. The yari was most utilyzed in the momachi Era (1394-1595). The yari's main target area was the abdomen. The shinobi would practice perfecting his technique on rice sacks and iron rings.**

w w w . g e o c i t i e s . c o m / b l a c k _ D r a g o n 8 1 2 0 0 2 / w e a p o n s . h t m l   ok, be sure to  exclude the spaces  between all the letters.  For some reason  fanfiction.net doesn't let us show url's. 

  



	3. Chapter 2

a/n – skakujou: the Rain village mentioned in this fic isn't the one in the series. We kind of found that out a little too late. Some OOCness here, since I'm such an incompetent writer. Plus thanks to darkworld for helping on the final fight scene between Amaya and Sasuke. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

                        --

            The ominous sound of what seemed to be thunder roared above as rain poured down from the sky, drenching the thick forests separating the Hidden Mist and the Rain. Two unlucky shinobi got to face the cold and wet head on, and they weren't too keen on being near so many trees where lightning could strike them.

            Hatake Kakashi knelt over Sakura, who had recently awakened, and was examining how much damage was inflicted on her. He had carried her to an area that would keep them safe from the rain and danger of being electrocuted into oblivion, and was now waiting out the sudden storm on top of the wrapped scrolls and under a canvas.

           "Where does it hurt?" He asked, cautiously prodding the area in which the attack had been inflicted on. Although she had only been knocked out and slightly winded, Kakashi wasn't sure if she was bleeding anywhere internally.

            "Oww…" She sniffled as his fingers found over a spot near her left side. He paused in his search for the major hit, and the Copy-Ninja sat back in relief, letting Sakura have a moment of painless rest.

            "I see. There's nothing to worry about, at least for the time being." He gave her a grin that she could see clearly through the black mask.

            "The worst that will happen is bruising, but you'll be okay in a few days as long as you don't try anything rash."

            His smile grew as the pink haired girl blushed, recalling what had happened prior. Besides taking that monstrous dive from the trees, she usually was the one that didn't rush into things at first sight. Kakashi wouldn't have to worry about anything happening to her while she was recovering.

            "I didn't mean to, Kakashi-sensei, but I saw the poison and panicked…" Sakura trailed off, obviously upset with herself being a hindrance once again.

            The jounin sighed, patting her on the head.

            "Don't worry about it Sakura; you were able to give Sasuke some time to regain his side of the fight." She bit her lip.

            "But wait…Kakashi-sensei, the injury that Sasuke-kun gave that girl made her loose a lot of blood. What if she…" Sakura took a shaky breath before continuing, "…dies? And why did she start getting angry when he Sasuke-kun started burning the trees? It was as if she was more concerned over that than her life. And what if—"

            Kakashi held up a hand, cutting her off in mid sentence. With one eye he observed how anxious and knotted up she looked and felt. Inwardly he sighed, suddenly feeling old just thinking about how she would have to face more situations like this in the future and wondering what would happen.

            "If she continues pursuing him after completing her next attack on Sasuke, yes, she will die." Sakura blinked, confused. 

            "Attack?" At his nod, she closed her eyes, focusing her attention on the area around her. Her eyes snapped open in shock.

            "That's probably all the chakra she has left!" Her observation was confirmed with another silent nod. Sakura was silent in return, mulling blankly over what she had just been told. Kakashi merely shuffled around in response, pulling out the wrapped scrolls from underneath them, careful not to disturb Sakura in her sitting position.

            She blinked, suddenly noticing Kakashi as he began binding the scrolls to his back, quickly pulling the straps over his shoulders and across his torso. All that was left was the canvas covering their heads, and the ground beneath them began to soak. Mud began to seep into her clothes, and she wrinkled her nose, shivering as cold radiated into her body.

            "What are you doing?" He finished buckling the metal fasteners, tightening the straps across his chest. He then carefully gathered her in his arms, one hand prepared to pack the canvas away. Examining the amount of rain coming down from under the cloth shield, he spoke up.

            "That attack is going to be headed this way pretty soon and we had best be moving along." Immediately she protested.

            "But what about—"

            "Don't worry about them, Sakura. We'll be able to find them after this storm passes." However, the smile from before did not surface on his face, his features once again becoming undetected under the mask. There was no way to sugarcoat the fact that both of them were aware of.

            Neither knew if they would even find them alive.

                        --

            "Try and run, Sasuke."

            _Which way would he go…which way…_

            "But where will you end up?"

            He sprang past trees, retreating.

            "How far will you run?" 

            Her voice followed him, no matter which way he turned and escaped to. It was as if she had become his shadow: always watching, waiting, and hunting. The situation he was in was all too familiar…

            **_You're afraid. It's happening all over again, you scared little boy…_**

            Truth whispered in his ears, accusingly; mockingly. 

            **_Afraid of the dark, afraid of dying, you miserable excuse for an avenger–_**

            '_Shut up.' _He growled, eyes beginning to change in wisps of red. It fell silent, but left the twisted feeling of irony clouding his thoughts.

Fog rose up, as if trying to block the way out, choosing the paths for him. His range of visibility was lowering, and the pattering of rain splashing down beginning to flood the earth was drowning out everything else helpful to hear.

            Except the voice. _Her _voice.

            "Or are you running from pain? Running from me?"      

            In frustration, Sasuke missed his intended target.

            "Shit!"

            He landed on a young branch, which almost immediately broke under his weight and forced him to move again. His heart was racing as he descended towards the clearing, tense as the mist enveloped him in its silvery depths.

            The possibility of Sasuke's head getting sliced off at any moment wasn't there, but seeing so much visible chakra from a shinobi around his age was enough to set him off. Flickers of blue chakra crackled above, suspended as if it were a marionette by strings curling around as several spirals. The atmosphere around the blue lightning suddenly seemed warped, drawing in water as it spun itself, as if it where making spiritual thread. It had begun to curl into a head resembling a crude dragon.

             Sasuke landed on the soaked soil, grunting as he fell ungracefully in mud. He shot up, looking for the way out. Ignoring the hisses spitting from above, he noted that the fog had only surrounded the trees, leaving the clearing open.

            However, there was something wrong. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, heading off towards the right. His feet kicked up water and mush as he leapt towards the edge of the dense trees, testing his theory. But he might've well have been running on a treadmill, for the distance seemed to stretch out and dance away as soon as he was about to reach the end of the clearing.

            He smirked. A simple Genjutsu trick taught in the Academy. It was defeated by focus, although how fast you countered it depended on how centered you were in the first place.

            Being short on time, he decided to take a short cut.

            "Sharingan!" His dark eyes suddenly shone blood-red, two black marks in each eye appearing around his pupils. He quickly dissected the jutsu into information, and forced it to release. In an instant he found himself still in the center. In reality, Sasuke hadn't moved an inch. 

            Feeling the Sharingan depleting the last of his chakra reserves, he quickly let his bloodline trait relax and fade away, only to set his eyes on his current opponent several feet away. Sasuke turned to face her, noticing her equally disheveled state.

            "Is that all the Village of the Hidden Rain has to offer?" They stared at each other, the rain forgotten even as it soaked them to the bone. Sharp flashes of light danced around them, illuminating the mist rising up to meet the sky and highlighting their sodden figures.

            Currently, the shinobi were both at a stand still. Although Amaya had the advantage of the current weather and battle ground she was still bleeding intensively. Sasuke was in possession of more chakra and was ready to take on any attack that she made, but couldn't figure out what she was doing by capturing water. 

            They took the same breaths, breathing silently in rhythm, waiting for the pattern to be broken, waiting for the moment to catch the other winded. Slowly, a smile crept onto one of their faces.

            "The Uchiha bloodline: that's how I've heard of you, Sasuke-chan." He was silent. Inside, distant anger began to surface. Her gaze bored into him, not letting his eyes leave hers. She slowly brought her hands up to chest height, implying the beginnings of a series of hand seals. His eyes narrowed, watching her movements carefully out of the corner of his eye.

            "Even knowing that, you still try to perform seals in front of me? I could easily copy your jutsu as well." It was her turn to be quiet. The smile was still on her face, shining brightly, but it uttered no words. He pressed on.

            "You barely have any chakra left. There's only enough to keep you from dying left in your body, am I right?" Still, the smile was present. But trying to decipher what was going on in her head was like navigating through thick mud neck high. 

            It wasn't a mask.

            "I see…you're confident that you have all four corners of this situation covered. Is it because you have the bloodline? Or is it because I'm almost dead?" His hands clenched into fists. 

            "What you've been saying to me has been screaming arrogance. I know this; I can counter that; you obviously can't defeat me." The smile slipped from her face, and she closed her eyes.

            "But you can't even see me; only the layers of my existance." Sasuke gritted his teeth, realizing why he thought of metaphorical mud.

            _'The faces…they're not acts…?' _

            A hand reached into a pouch, and pulled out three scrolls along with kunai. The ink began to run, smearing together and discoloring the outer backing of the scroll.

            "And that is why…" 

            Her eyes snapped open.

            "…you can't truly defeat me."

                        --

            "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Naruto swore as he bounded from tree to tree as one, not in his Kage Bunshin forms any longer. Rain pattered down on his head, making his blond hair flop on top of his head like a wet mop. And he was also trying to dive into some deep thinking on the way, trying to solve two or three things at once.

            "And what the hell did that thief mean by, 'It means your friend is dead'?!" Lightning flashed above, followed shortly by thunder. A strong gale cut through the trees, throwing leaves and twigs in his direction. Obviously, with all these distractions and not knowing exactly where his destination was, the shinobi wasn't having the best of luck in his objectives.

            And getting hit in the face with numerous objects wasn't helping.

            He gritted his teeth, dodging the debris being hurled at him and judging to where he would head next. 

            _'Sasuke's on his own, so I should help him out.' _Naruto growled, irritated at the thought of having to help his rival for Sakura's affections. And speaking of Sakura…

He gasped, realizing something for the first time. Abruptly he skidded to a halt in a tree, halting his trek towards where the most commotion could be heard from. The blond redirected himself in another direction and headed off, quickly abandoning Sasuke for his other teammate.

            _'Sakura-chan's out there all alone by herself and in danger! I've got to find her!'_ Of course, he conveniently forgot that Kakashi had also come on their trip and wouldn't have let anything happen to her, and it spurred him on to rescue the girl. 

            But then he remembered something else. If Sasuke died, then she would hate him for trying to save her and leaving the Uchiha to perish on his own. Such selfishness would not be tolerated, and he would indefinitely be on her 'To Forever Hate, Kill, and Mangle' list.

            Growling he spun around, landing on another branch once more, and not noticing that it waved unsteadily in his frustration.

            However, before he could get onto any sort of heroics, a loud rumbling sound erupted. It was unlike any other thunder that he had heard before, and it was amplified to a point that it felt like someone had blasted the noise directly into his ear.

            Yelling in fright than in pain, he clutched his head in, sinking down on the branch. His head was ringing as if alarms had gone off, and the screech kept echoing noisily, pounding against his eardrums. It came louder each time. So caught up in the sound, he didn't notice the slight pause in the torrent of rain, simmering down to a light sprinkle. 

            _'What the hell is going on?!'__ He growled in frustration, a major headache forming._

And then it stopped.

            Just like that. Naruto slowly opened his eyes, which had been closed in confusion. Then he blinked. 

            _'Now what?'_

He stood up, letting his hands fall to his sides. The branch swayed, giving him a good look at the ground. Naruto gulped, instinctively inching towards the trunk. All around him it was silent; nothing moved, save for water droplets cascading from foliage. 

            Then there was a another rumble, but it was quiet, as if it were distant. He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to figure out where it was coming from. It was the same sound from before, when he had deserted Kisho on the roof. Suddenly it grew louder and tunneled towards him, crashing through trees at a high speed.

            And in seconds, he found out what that sound was.__

            "SHIT!!!"

                        --

            In rapid succession, the scrolls were each pinned to three trees on the edge of the clearing, quickly unfurling to reveal the writings inside. She stood her ground, ponytail flapping in the wind, hands raised to chest height. Her glaring eyes caught Sasuke in their grasp, and she methodically began twisting her fingers in signs of all sorts, reciting each with smooth speed.

            Amaya seemingly had found new strength as she began to perform her jutsu, her wound having begun to heal.

            "…rat, boar, snake, goat…"

            The hair on the back of his neck tingled, and he shivered. The chakra from above was beginning to overpower his sense of security. His wet clothes stuck to him, beginning to freeze his skin and restrict his movement. Sasuke shifted his stance, never leaving Amaya's form undetected.

            She raised an eyebrow, lips cracking into a small smile. He stiffened, halting in the process.

            "…bird, dog, rat, boar…"

            The girl closed her eyes, tuning out her surroundings and focusing merely on her attack. 

            Sasuke moved.

            He leaped towards her, catching her in the gut with his fist. It should have been enough to wind her and give openings for assault. But she kept going, her hands blurring into seals, undeterred by his attack. Sasuke cursed, realizing how serious the situation was. There was nothing short of killing her to get the attack to stop, and even if he did, the water above would come crashing down on the forest, crushing him and anything in its way. He looked towards the edge of the clearing, clenching his fists.

            And even if he tried to escape she would probably catch up to him before he made it halfway across. He turned back, also ditching any more ideas with the Sharingan. His eyes weren't developed enough to see through attacks almost instantly; he would've had to have seen it at least twice.

            The waste of chakra would tire him out, leaving him less of a chance to get out of there or even live. He stood there, letting the pattering cold slide down his skin, raising chills up his spine. The drone of her voice hummed eerily, creeping its way into his nerves.

            Suddenly he lashed out, slamming his foot into her side. Amaya's eyes snapped open as her wound was torn open, blood beginning to seep out once again. Sasuke followed through with another kick, forcing her back. She stumbled, tripping over the new pain. Her knees buckled and she fell, sliding to the muddy forest floor. He slowly lowered his foot, watching her every move. Her hands were still moving, but much slower than before.

            "Damn it…" his hand reached for his holster, looping a finger around a shuriken.

            And suddenly the rumbling above stopped, cutting off abruptly. Sasuke stopped, letting the weapon slip back with a clink. He straightened up, narrowed eyes surveying the scene. 

            The pounding rain had lessened to a drizzle, and the sky seemed a shade lighter almost. 

            Almost.

            It was silent. He stood still, listening for any movement.

            Nothing.

            He tore his eyes from the clearing to face the other ninja, who was finishing her seals.

            And as she twisted her hands around for the last one, he knew he wouldn't be able to escape.

            "…snake." And she stopped.

            He held his breath, watching her intently. Sluggishly, the other shinobi pulled her hands apart, as if half asleep. Suddenly she pitched forward, arms flinging out in time to catch her before she fainted in the mud. Blood oozed from the cut, mixing with the soil beneath. Feeling the cool sludge slide between her fingers and seep underneath her fingernails she frowned. Her face was shadowed, her headband coming loose from its place on her head.

            "You know…" she began exhaustedly, "…if you had been a smart little boy and had left instead of trying to kill me off…" Her hands fisted in the dirt, causing it to squelch unpleasantly. He listened, suddenly getting a feeling of a foreboding warning. Her last words came out as a faltering hiss. 

            "…you…would have lived."

            She fell silent. Sasuke stood there somewhat awkwardly, contemplating on what to do next. He started to turn away and leave the clearing, now that all obstacles were out of the way. However, the mist was relentless: it simply did not die, and it rose, becoming a steaming maze. Sasuke froze, rethinking his way out. 

            Suddenly a loud rumble pierced his thoughts, crackling loudly. He looked up, jaw dropping open. 

            "Oh god…" Sasuke muttered. It seemed that Amaya still had a trick or two. The once great dragon head that she had created was now a featureless, teeming mass of water. He quickly threw a glance back at the girl. She hadn't moved from that spot. He muttered some more curses under his breath. She'd finally passed out, leaving him as the victor and alone to face the liquid. Now there was no control over her attack as it commenced, her chakra beginning to release its hold on the water. But that rumbling noise, could it be that water? Impossible: free of its puppetry, the water wouldn't cause a noise like that.

            Unless...

            Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, his speculations confirmed as the ground beneath began to splinter and shake.

            "No!" Sasuke made as to leap away, but to no avail.

            In a fraction of a second, powerful columns of water blasted through the ground with devastating results. His leg was caught by the high pressure and snapped, twisted in a disgusting angle. He fell to the ground in pain, groaning as his injury started to affect him. Amaya sat there, as if she were silently regarding the ground. Water spilled from the sky, breaking free as the chakra dissipated bit by bit. It splashed down, creating new trenches in the soil. He seethed, gritting his teeth in pain and anger. 

            "Dammit…what does it take…" Sasuke panted, short of breath, "to get rid of you?!" he roared. Sasuke could've sworn that even if she was really unconscious, that he saw a flicker of a smile on her face. He tried to drag himself through the mud, to get out of the way, to escape, to move: but his fingers had no hold and his leg was killing him. He shut his eyes. 

            He wasn't one to give up, but by now it was too late to do anything else, other than to wait.

            And die.

            He fell unconscious just as the last threads of chakra ruptured, and the attack broke free.

                        --

            It was quiet. 

           The damage from the fight prior was enough to send a spectator into silence, especially of the clearing. Water had wiped out many of the dead trees which had been burned, and had left marks on the remaining trees. Leaves drifted in trickling streams of water, now lifeless and lacking the spirit that it had interlaced with chakra. 

            The clouds were now passing, grey and drifting aimlessly.

            A lone, threadbare scroll flapped uselessly in the wind, still attached to a tree by a kunai. There was a deep indent where the point was imbedded into the trunk. Ink ran together, smearing into illegible markings that seeped into the parchment and dripped to the ground like thick tar. Blood stained the handle of the kunai. The others had been swept away.

            Underneath some remaining foliage, the combatants and the rest of Team Seven rested, reparing and inspecting. In the current situation, only two were unhurt, one was bruised, and the other two…

            Sasuke would live, and still would be able to live as a shinobi after his leg was repaired. But it would take several months before he could walk or run with it, and then a while after to let him attack with it. However, it wasn't sure when he would awaken out of his current state. His leg had been bound with a makeshift splint that would do for the time being.

            The other shinobi, Amaya, was in critical condition as her future looked dim. She had lost a lot of blood from her wound and various other cuts, which had been simply stitched and bandaged, but the temporary treatment wouldn't last for much longer. She was breathing rather shallowly, and her chakra had been seriously depleted.

            If they hadn't been picked up by the jounin, they would have both been crushed. It was obvious that she had been aiming for something close to suicidal, but if she had not been hurt earlier, she would have still been conscious, but worn out. The ones awake were silently wondering about what had driven her to react like she did.

            Sakura was situated next to Sasuke, watching him frantically for signs of coming back to consciousness. She seemed to have forgotten about her own injuries, suddenly worried about Sasuke's well-being. Naruto had suffered some minor cuts and quite a scare from Amaya's attack, but was otherwise fine, though his constant gabbing was not present, and he was silent for a change. 

            Finishing the final touches on bandaging and such, Kakashi sat back, turning his attention towards them. Deciding that they couldn't waste any more time, he announced,

            "Let's get moving, shall we?" Naruto jumped up, ready to get out of to forest.

            Kakashi suddenly realized a dilemma. He couldn't carry both of the girls at the same time, especially when he needed to get to the village quickly without spilling any more blood. He looked over at Sakura.

            "Can you make it on your own?"

            The pink haired girl nodded in affirmation, although her voice and body language showed that she was still deeply moved over Sasuke's status.

           "Yeah. I feel better now, and she," she spoke, pointing at Amaya, "needs medical attention right away: I'm not that important." Naruto finally spoke up, panicking.

            "Hey, hey: Sakura-chan, didn't you get hurt?" Sakura glared at him in response.

            "Naruto, you idiot! It's not me you need to worry about. I'm not dying any time soon!" He instantly shut up, not wanting to dig any further. Kakashi sighed, gathering Amaya in his arms. 

            Naruto followed suit, and hoisted Sasuke onto his back. 

            They quickly packed up and made their way towards the village, going as fast as they could.

            However, they didn't notice the clearing's disheveled appearance change, bits of chakra sparking up from the damp ground. 

                        --

            A lone figure stirred, groaning as it struggled to open its eyes. A discarded weapon lay to the side, its blade shining dully. He managed to open both of them, and rolled over on his back. The wooden beams supporting the roof dug into his back, splinters poking at his spine. Straw crackled with every breath, imitating him. He lay still for a moment, glaring at the sky.

            Arai Kisho was not a happy person. He had been defeated by an obnoxious brat who had a trick up his sleeve that anyone would last expect: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. How could a technique such as this fall into the hands of someone like Naruto? And judging by how comfortable and confident he was with the attack, he'd obviously had quite a while to bond with it. Kisho frowned, silver eyes glinting. 

            However, it hadn't been used effectively. The Rain shinobi had been able to wake up within thirty minutes of the blond's assault, and already his cuts were halfway through healing. He sighed, praying for the Jutsu and its legendary uses.

            He flipped himself up from his position on the roof, landing back on his feet. He sighed again, noticing the damage made to the roof.

            'Yamada-san's not going to like the new decoration of blood and my imprint on his roof…' The yari was once again knotted around Kisho's torso, and as he was preparing to leave for the dirt road below, he stopped. His queue whipped about as he circled back around, facing the forest. It was quiet. He grimaced. 

            'She must have done it…' He clenched his hand, his right arm trembling with the intensity running through it to his fist. There was a group of five headed towards the village, but two of them he could barely sense…

            His eyes shot open wide, his silver orbs in shock. In the next moment, Yamada's roof was abandoned.

            The odd group made its way to the edge, trying not to cause commotion over their tattered state. Each one of them was caked in a fair amount of mud, tears, and were soaked by the rain. An uprising caused by the sight of one of their genin almost dead wouldn't be too beneficial at that moment. They moved quietly, reacting at every suspicious noise they came across. 

            Kakashi herded them into a side street, passing a busy intersection. He looked up and down the path, determining where they would end up next.

            "There should be a facility around here somewhere…near the Elder's home…" As their team leader mused over which direction to follow, the genin currently conscious stood, constantly looking nervously over their shoulders. Each time they stood still for more than a minute, it felt as if someone had snuck up on them, passing their defense.

            "Hey, Kakashi-sensei! When are we getting outta here?" Naruto badgered, only to be violently shushed by his teammate.

            "Quiet!" She hissed. Kakashi turned around to chide and usher them to their next destination, but was too slow.

            "Yasui!" 

            At the yell, everyone present in the streets froze: Team Seven in a mixture of fear and shock, and the villagers in astonishment. They jammed into the entrances of the small street from both sides, dangerous expressions beginning to surface on some, while others were merely curious.

            The team shrunk back together, instinctively tensing. There was no where to hide. And inevitably, pairs of eyes slowly began to fix themselves on the comatose girl in Hatake Kakashi's arms, blood seeping through the temporary bandage and lying limply. She didn't appear to be in the least bit alive with almost all of her chakra drained and looking like she was dunked into a lake and drowned. Her shinobi headband hung awkwardly across her head, as if someone had tried to remove it. 

            And as if someone had flipped a switch, faces of anger and alarm quickly made their existence present.

            Low hisses broke out through the gathered spectators, and whatever they had been working at was dropped immediately. Many of them, even including some children, were pulling out weapons from various hidden places from their clothing. They were all simple tools such as knives or needles as Sasuke had observed earlier, but by their show of no hesitant hands, they had been trained to use these sharp edges enough to hurt an opponent.

            The two genin tensed, slowly sliding into their defensive position around Kakashi as they had done with Tazuna, keeping a hand ready to pull out kunai or shuriken. Kakashi regarded the crowd coolly, still keeping a loose stance.

            "Stay where you are. If you show them hostility, they could end up attacking us." Naruto and Sakura flinched, the jounin's voice knocking them out of their concentration. Sasuke dimly registered the fat that weapons were suddenly being threatened in their direction.

            Kakashi studied the armed villagers with his one visible eye, looking for a way to settle the situation without violence or provoking them even verbally. However, he was spared having to answer this on his own as Kisho suddenly dropped in ahead of the people, the yari on his back apparent. The jounin narrowed his eye, watching the genin carefully.

            Kisho straightened; purposely ignoring Naruto's shocked face.

            "Excuse me, but it's apparent that my friend here needs medical attention. If I could take her to the Village Elder…" He gestured, obviously implying that Amaya should be handed over to him. Although his tone wasn't menacing, it was stiff, and didn't leave much room for argument.

            "Ah: I see." Slowly, so as not to open the wound any further, Kakashi carefully shifted her body into the other's arms.

            He backed away, starting to head in a direction that would probably take her to a hospital ward of some sort. 

            "If you wish to leave this suffering village alive, complete your mission here as quickly as possible. Hospitality cannot be afforded or found here as easily as it could in Konohagakure." He stared at them, unnerving the team. His eyes flickered past Sakura and their jounin, landing purposely on the blond.

            Naruto scowled.

            _'Bastard: They both started it by trying to pickpocket us. It's not like we wanted to stay in this stupid run-down village, but we have all rights to finish our mission in the time allowed by the old freak!'_

He growled, tightening his grip on Sasuke. Not heeding Kakashi's earlier warning, he hollered,

            "OI! You bastar–"

            A needle ripped by, grazing Naruto's face. The boy yelped in surprise, a cut opening on his cheek. Sakura gasped.

            "Naruto!"

            The woman that had attacked Naruto pulled out another needle from her hair, letting it fall raggedly to her shoulders. Her face was livid, twisted into a dark expression as she caught his blue eyes staring back, surprised.

            "Don't you ever denounce the shinobi of this village!" she shrieked, aiming for him again. As he dodged, cries erupted through the crowd, announcing battle in the streets. Weapons appeared from nowhere, ranging from knives to rocks. People pushed past each other, leaving a path for Kisho and heading for the foreigners. Sakura rushed in front of Naruto and Sasuke, taking out a kunai. She flinched as the bruises reacted to her defense.

            Kakashi cursed and leapt towards them, preparing to get them out of the streets.

            Just as he set foot back on the ground, a sharp voice called out.

            "HALT!"

                        --

a/n: aw, dang…I didn't get to kill off Sasuke…. ^^ Well anyway, thanks to the people who reviewed.


	4. Chapter 3

A/n: Apologies to all for taking so freakin' long to update. We're lazy bastards. edit If some of the stuff in here doesn't make sense, I'm sorry ; It got messed up in our first upload. - ska

       And at that exact moment at those exact words all did indeed, halt. Each side of the battle was motionless, frozen by the powerful command. The genin peeked out from behind their jounin, both anticipating a sudden move. It was quiet in the side street, the winds beginning to flow through.

Suddenly a great clamor erupted as the villagers began retreating, hurrying to return their weapons to their proper hiding places. Needles flashed back into hair, knives into pockets, and daggers back into sheaths. Stands were hauled back up and misplaced items were tucked away or rearranged. The ninja watched as expressions melted from complete anger to almost a surreal calm or panicked faces.   
  
       Even Kisho was affected by this as he whipped around, queue flying as he hurried to face the newcomer. All of a sudden his stance became less hostile and more apprehensive, standing rigid. He too seemed strangely subdued. The swish of robes announced an entrance, wooden sandals softly clacking against the wood ground. Bows came through the rows of villagers, some even descending to their knees. The fog began to part, swirling in spirals as the robes flapped loudly in the wind.  
  
     "Psst! Kakashi-sensei, what's going on?" Naruto hissed, eyes flying back and forth at their sudden change in behavior. Suspicion was running its fingers up his spine, creating a pattern of chills that set him on end. Kakashi chuckled and turned to face the stranger as well.

    "It looks like we'll be able to deliver the scrolls in person, Naruto."

Naruto and Sakura followed him, eyes tracing through the fog.

     "Hail the Village Elder!" Two minds dimly registered shock.     To call this man elderly was an overstatement. He could not have been much older than Kakashi himself, standing only several inches shorter than the jounin. As his two shinobi, he sported long hair in a swishing ponytail that fell over a straw hat hanging from his back. The sign of the Mist glittered in silver from the brim.

He paused in front of Kisho, who was bowed over Amaya in his arms.

         "Hibiki-sama." Two brown eyes closed as Hibiki sighed.     "Arai, give me the girl." The boy raised his head.  
  
     "Eh..." Kisho hesitated, glancing at the still form of his comrade that lay slung between his arms.     "Now, Kisho; give her to me."         It was clear that it was the same voice that stopped the villagers' rage. He sullenly handed her over, placing her carefully in his elder's arms. As she left his possession, his hands fell to his sides, useless. Hibiki swished as he turned, facing Kakashi. His serious demeanor brightened slightly.  
  
      "Ah, the messengers from Konohagakure! Fancy meeting you in a situation such as this," he said, ignoring the sulking shinobi, "Although, you are a few hours behind schedule. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Please follow me, and we'll get your genin fixed up along with Miss Yasui here."      And just like that, the Elder shunted them towards the hospital ward, evidently located in the large mansion towering over the village.--       Sakura sat in a quiet, whitewashed hallway with her eyes trained upon a single door and a frown on her face. She had been sitting there ever since both of the injured ninja had been brought in, waiting for any news their conditions.         Sasuke's condition in particular.         The girl fingered the ragged towel draped over her shoulders, soaking up the rain water dripping from her hair. It was as blank as the walls surrounding her, leaving no traces of comfort anywhere within its folds. Her fingers caught a loose thread, and she absentmindedly began tugging at it.         "I wonder if Sasuke-kun will be okay..." she wondered, twisting the strand around her finger. Her features twisted into a wince as it cut into her flesh.         '_And that girl too,'_ she mentally added, somehow feeling guilty for leaving her out. She unwound the string and sighed. Sakura wasn't too sure on how well the doctor would treat her teammate, seeing that he'd caused irreparable damage to their goods.

         Her eyebrows furrowed, wondering where their mission stood in the current situation.  
 

         A loud rip tore through her thoughts, and she jumped. A long strip of the towel dangled in the air, waving like a red flag. She hastily tried to hide the torn bit away, and just as she finished, a telltale swish froze her on the spot.

     "Ah, you're still awake?" Sakura whipped around to see Hibiki standing over her, looking concerned. She looked further to find Kisho leaning casually on the wall, his hands stuffed in his coat pockets. The calm effect was spoiled by the scowl on his face, eyebrows drawn down. She glared at him in return, ready to comment on his behavior.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Sakura blinked and saw him looking away. She followed his eyes towards the window, watching his tattered village go about their daily deeds. A small smile was playing about his lips.

         "But it wasn't always like this, Sakura." Her smart ears perked up, sensing the arrival of an important lesson.     "Long before Konohagakure was born into existence, the Hidden Mist thrived. We were once an important trading crossroad, the center of all major trades and treaties. Those roads were what bonded the villages so many years ago."         The smile became more of a grimace than a friendly feature.         "However, human nature and greed began seeping into the farthest reaches of the system, and they began to revolt, feeling the want to break away from our carefully crafted peace and gain power. The Mist was the first target on their list, and they hit our weak spot: the innocents.   
  
     "We fought with blood and sweat to preserve our once proud country from complete destruction. In ten years, our last barriers fell, and our hard earned name meant nothing."  
        

Hibiki's voice cut the air with a voice that betrayed his cool demeanor, letting bitter feelings run with his words.  
  
    "The main village had been cut down to about three-fifths of its original size, and more deaths were counted up each day. At that time, even the prospect of stepping outside to hang laundry was horrifying. You didn't know if you would live to the next day, or even the next hour.

         "Mizukage finally stood up. He could not let his people die in vengeance, alongside a dishonored name. Sacrificing the last of his ninja, he split the Mist and sent them on hopes they would somehow survive in inconspicuous villages and rebirth the Water Country."  
        

Sakura sat up straighter.  
        

"Hibiki-sama…if the shinobi were defeated, how could have the villagers survive? Wouldn't they have been slain as well?" Hibiki faced her, smiling again.  
  
"It seems to have been impossible, doesn't it?" Sakura slowly nodded, patiently waiting for more.  
        

"The villagers were able to hide themselves, and live on the little of the saved money sent from the Mist. That way, the small villagers were able to trade between one another. However, the money began running out, and the economy downsized.

Some villages were discovered and burned. Only several lucky colonies that still had the lingering shinobi with them survived. They worked day and night to keep us alive, fighting off bandits and finding us rations. However, hunger and violent exchanges cut them down; they were not immortal. It became apparent that more were needed."  
        

Hibiki paused to take a breath.   
  
     "And these ninja were found among the ruins of destroyed villages. Scouts found potentially capable children of all ages, and brought them back. They were trained and sheltered in return of their service to the village, along with the new found silk production in trade for food or money. Stealing from foreigners became a popular tactic for money."  
  
         "This village of shinobi became its allay: The Village of the Rain."   
  
     Sakura whipped around to face Kisho. The jacket garbed shinobi stared back at her, his silver eyes boring into hers. Then Amaya and Kisho weren't just thieves?   
  
"Amaya may have overreacted, but it's not too far from what other shinobi might've done."

He let her process this before he moved on.

"Can you imagine? Most of our shinobi were found dying or suicidal.   They were willing to end this terrible famine by their own hands; we let them choose to live to serve us, or to die." The Elder's eyes grew hard at his reminiscence. It had obviously been a time of unimaginable suffering.

         "The villagers respect the shinobi for who they are, taking care of any ninja that carried the headband of the Rain, should they be wounded or in need of provisions. And from those acts of kindness, the Rain-nin came to form a bond with this village."   
  
     The leaf ninja watched as Kisho's normally unreadable features crinkled into a small grin at the warm words that Hibki-sama spoke.   
  
     "It was their new home. They didn't care if it was poor, dirty, or run down. They would, and, are still willing to die for the Village of the Hidden Rain: their home."   
  
              --  
  
Evening  
  
          --  
  
_      'Ugh... that idiot.'_ Bitter thoughts crawled into Kisho's mind as he slumped down in his seat. He put on his customary scowl, irritated at both waiting for hours and being stuck with bland, white walls for company. Of course, he neglected to note the fact that both Sakura and Naruto were still waiting there with him, although none of them had bothered to break uneasy silence between them. Hostility was still weaving itself through the air, especially between the two boys. Gaze flickering over the closed door once again, Kisho sighed._       'She wasted her chakra on that fool. I haven't seen her overreact that often.'_ His scowl deepened. '_That must've been some kid, eh, Amaya?_'         He shook his head, standing up on sore legs. Although Amaya was in bad condition, he didn't want to stay around the hospital wing any longer. Painful memories always resided in such places.         Giving one last look at the closed doors, he drifted towards the exit. He'd have to deal with Hibiki's wrath sooner or later, and he wasn't about to let the prospect of it eat away at him.     "OI! Where do you think you're going?!"     Sakura whipped around, shocked at the sudden disruption. Kisho twitched.  


_ 'Damned brat.'_  
    

Naruto jumped up, pointing an accusing finger at the shinobi's back.  
        

"Hey! You can't just walk off! Get back here!" he shrieked indignantly.   
  
   

No answer.

    Naruto began growling, only to have his ears boxed by his irate teammate. He yelped in pain.  
        

"What was that for?" Sakura hit him upside the head.  
  
     "Naruto, you idiot! There are people resting here, and you yelled loud enough to wake the dead!" She hissed.   
        

Kisho managed to let out a smirk. She was turning out to be rather interesting, unlike her fellow teammates. He shook his head, only to be suddenly knocked off his feet by some unseen force.

         "Listen to the boy; it'll save me the trouble of telling you," a sharp voice barked out, mocking Kisho's pout. A plume of smoke appeared with a pop, rising in intricate swirls. The two genin looked around him curiously, expecting an intimidating newcomer to arrive on the scene.  
  
    "Ah...you kids. Always landing yerselves into one thing or another," the voice suddenly griped. The smoke was whisked away, and the impressive entrance was lost upon the actual person. The leaf nin gaped.

         This ninja was old! A skinny, bony, wretched, old woman! Hokage-sama looked like a newborn compared to this one. Her face was craggy and wrinkled with age. A tired, nearly dead look drifted about her lightless eyes, although her features were drawn into a cranky grimace. The old one was shorter than Kisho, who had to be...5'5".  
  
    Kisho chuckled, the humor in his laughter obviously strained.

         "Akemi-sensei, you are too hard on us all. After all, what can mere children do to cause such a disturbance?" The said teacher began spitting out curses at his decidedly idiotic remark, which he began to return, loosing his calm presence.   
  
   Sakura watched as the conversation progressed. Akemi, although she was one so old, had a foul temper and mouth. She watched as Kisho methodically lost his cool, looking irritated for once.     Akemi threw her hand in the air, as if swatting bothersome gnats.         "Pah!" She spat, stepping forward in his face.         "Innocent children my ass! Foolhardy maybe that you be, but guiltless is high off the damn mark, you fool. Trying to worm your way out of it, I'll wager."   
  
    "Escape? Me? Akemi-sensei, I've been nothing but good from the day we've met," he sneered, "Although I'm not the sure the same could be said about you." It was amazing how far Kisho dared to venture, even across the. After all, ridiculing the words of your sensei? Sakura shook her head disapprovingly. This guy was insane.         His elder snarled, to which he glared back at. Obviously, team spirit and cooperation did not run well with the jounin and her pupils.         "Humph. Good, huh? As far as I can remember you've both been a right pair a' terrors. But at least Amaya's the one with the sharper mind." Her crinkled face scrunched up even more as beady eyes squinted. Her impudent stare scanned the room for her other student. An eyebrow raised as she found an absence.     "So...the girl went and got herself killed?"   
  
     "Hardly. She got herself hurt though," Kisho nodded towards Sakura and Naruto, "By their teammate." Akemi grunted.    "A pity it wasn't you."         He gritted his teeth, silver eyes flashing in anger.     Akemi's eyes roamed among the uneasy pair. She was not one to present oneself to as sloppy. The old woman stalked up to each of them at a time, assessing their height, looks, and probable ability, crouching to their height. After peering at them closely, she finally turned to look at Kisho, a disbelieving look on her features.     "You mean to tell me that a mere child such as these defeated Amaya?" He said nothing.      The woman's face suddenly wore a serious expression, dropping all sense of irritation and bitterness.  
  
      "What in the seven hells happened here?"         Sakura frowned, finally speaking up. Where did this old hag get off calling Sasuke a "mere child"?"She was beaten," she said defiantly, "by Uchiha Sasuke." Although she was carrying a rare brave front on the outside, all she wanted to do was shrink away and run. The jounin unnerved her.         A flash of light ignited in the dull eyes for a moment, but was quickly masked as Akemi regained her composure. Straightening, she turned to shoot Kisho a look.     "Is that so? Uchiha Sasuke." Apparently, the Uchiha Clan was known more widely than the two thought. And with that being said, her thoughts took a sentimental turn.      "I see."

Her eyes hardened.

"Amaya's become a slacker."

      But not completely.             --     "This is a very serious measure, a very serious measure indeed."   
  
     "I'm sure there'll be some way to repay for the damage caused by my students."  
    

"Hm...perhaps. But I doubt any money will replace the silk worms we lost. Those were prime breeding territories that were destroyed. The villagers have also been affected by this as well."  
  
     Both the elder and Kakashi sat inside Hibiki's splendidly decorated office, discussing the troubles that this incident would cause for the Hidden Rain Village. As was said before, the mansion was furnished with fine wood and silk, standing out against the drab village. Even the room that Kisho and the remaining two of Team 7 had been assigned to until Sasuke was fully healed was quite rich.  
  
     But there was one drawback to the large home. It had been built when good insulation was not widely available, even for the rich. Even soft mutters could find their way through the paper thin walls and doors.  
  
     It wasn't like Sakura to eavesdrop, but her curiosity had gotten the best of her. With a little focusing of chakra, her ears became much more sensitive. She was able to pick up each and every word that Kakashi and Hibiki-sama whispered in the office a floor and a hall above them.   
  
      She was assumed to have fallen asleep, so that they could converse under the cover of the night. Unfortunately, Sakura had been restless that evening, too stressed to close her eyes and welcome darkness.   
  
     "What about the condition my student is in?" Kakashi inquired.  
     

"Hm?" Hibiki blinked at the sudden change in topic, "Oh, he'll be fine. A scratch here, a bump there. But he'll pull through; if he's the substantial ninja you say he is."   
    

Sakura snorted. Sasuke's leg was broken in several places: a few scratches indeed.  
    

"Well, it'll take overnight for the doctors to fix him up properly, which is why I invited you and your team as our guests, of course."   
     

Hibiki chuckled.  
  
      "At least one of my students will be fine, although he certainly took a beating from your other student, eh Kakashi?"   
    

Laughter could be heard as they both chuckled at the prospect.   
     

"Yes, yes, Naruto is full of surprises."   
  
      Sakura blinked. She turned to the sleeping form that lay on one of the fine beds of the mansion. Bristly blond hair poked out of a nightcap, signifying that her teammate was indeed the other inhabitant of the room.   
        

'Naruto beat him?'   
        

Then perhaps Kisho was nothing to worry about. Half the reason she couldn't sleep was fear of being throttled in her slumber. Of course, as she turned to the open window, anything was possible. She had seen the way Kisho and his jounin were attacking each other, almost baring teeth in their frustration.

Sakura observed the shadow dancing in the moonlight toiling endlessly. As punishment for stealing from the Elder's visitors, Kisho had been ordered to work. Unsurprisingly, he had followed orders without any sign of complaint.   
  
     "Hey."   
    

Sakura jumped, tumbling out of bed. Her eyes snapped over towards the window, where she saw familiar mischievous eyes looking in. She sighed almost in relief, pressing a hand over her heart. Then she instantly became alert, glaring Kisho as he leaned in on the sill, holding a wet and soapy sponge that dripped onto the floor below.   
His silver eyes appeared to glow in the moonlight as the peered inside, completely dismissing the fact that he was disturbing her.   
    

"What're you doing up so late?"   
  
     "Nothing," she replied curtly. Her voice was crisp with a dismissive tone.   
    

"Sure looks like something, sitting in the middle of the floor like that."   
    

"What's it to you anyways?" The pink haired female snapped, loosing her composure. Green irises bored into his as she glared at him.   
    

"Hey, calm down," he said placidly, straightening from his leaning position. Kisho raised his hands in defense, showing no pretense of harm. "I just need to give you somethi -"  
     "What, a kunai to the head? I'd have to say no." She retorted, becoming defensive.   
     

"Eh...it's a good idea, but no." A soft jingling noise was heard as he pulled out two small drawstring pouches out of his pocket. Sakura instantly recognized it as the money that had been stolen. He let it swing back and forth by the strings wrapped around his finger.   
  
      "Hibiki-sama told me to give these to you awhile ago. I never did return them, though."   
     

Sakura slowly got up to walk over to retrieve the money, but halfway up on her knees, she fell right back down. Apparently she wasn't as awake as she thought she was, but suspicion shone in her eyes.   
     

"Odd time to return it, wouldn't you say?" He raised an eyebrow, pausing in his absentminded fun.  
     

"What's that supposed to mean?" She frowned.  
      

  "Throw it here."   
     

"What!? You think I'm going to knife you or something?"

       "Yes."     "…Fine," Kisho snorted. He gave the pouches one last twirl before letting them fly from his finger. They both hit her head, in Kisho's opinion, with a very satisfying smack. He pulled his ladder over to another window before she could retaliate, and there he returned to the task of cleaning the outside of the mansion.   
        

Sakura grabbed the coins with a huff.   
        

How disrespectful! Standing up, Sakura forgot her fear of being assaulted and rushed over to the window.   
  
      Poking her head out, she glared daggers at the older shinobi.

     "Hey! You can't just throw -"   
  
     But Sakura's was cut off as a terrible yelling rose in the thicket of the forest. Not too far off a lone ninja could be seen tearing through the trees with panicked speed. His voice was strained with urgency and fear.   
  
     "Hibiki-sama! HIBIKI-SAMA! THE ILLUSION! THE GENJUTSU IS-"     And like Sakura, he was cut off as well.         But this time it was by something much louder and peculiar than a single person. A terrible noise, an earsplitting roar that sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard drowned out everything else. It was a jet engine, and a high pitched screech combined into one insanely loud noise. The mansion clattered and shook from a force unknown as a sudden beam of blue light shot from the middle of the forest, rising high up into the air like a beacon.   
  
      It lit the entire village in a sheen of blue, lighting upon the two shinobi.   
         Sakura lost her footing as Kisho clung to a window sill, taking the force dead on. She yelped as she hit the floor, coins scattering this way and that. Unbelievably, Naruto was still asleep, although he appeared to be more restless than he had before.         A loud snapping met her ears as trees were demolished by the rapidly expanding dome of azure.      '_No way; this is...'_        Sakura's eyes shrank as the blinding light reached her pupils.     "Chakra?"A/N: Whee! A cliffhanger! Don't you just love those? Well, sorry for the very long delay. Complications between writers and such (skakujou: but he gets to punch me now! ;-). But we'll be trying our best to get you these chapters faster. Ooh! Look a plot is beginning to unravel! Snorts at plot. And remember kiddies! L33t Sp3ak blows.  
  
skakujou: m1 1337 741 15 73h 5u( ' XD  
  
Akemi - Bright and beautiful in Japanese__


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